Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm not a fan of carrot cake. But this was a special request that I could not refuse. So, to make sure that the real cake turns out just right, I made some trial cakes. To my surprise, they turned out rather good  :)  I may just start liking carrot cake...

Ingredients for about 9 mini-cakes:

35g walnuts, chopped

125 carrots, finely grated

100g flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 small eggs (45g each with shell)

70g sugar

90ml oil

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 - Whisk eggs for about a minute or so till fluffy.

2 - Gradually add sugar till mixture is light coloured. 

3 - Gradually add oil and vanilla, and mix well.

4 - Add flour and other powdered ingredients and mix till just incorporated. 

5 - Fold in nuts and carrots.

6 - Bake at 180 degC for about 18 min. Cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

(Only about half was used for these 9 mini-cakes.)

25g butter

100g cream cheese

100g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

zest of half a lemon

* Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.

1 - With a mixer, beat cream and butter on low speed till smooth and creamy.

2 - Gradually add icing sugar and blend till well combined.

3 - Add vanilla and lemon zest.

When cakes are no longer warm, generously spread cream cheese frosting on top of each cake and top with a nice looking walnut. What a huge difference a little frosting makes!